The Hoarding Craze 4:2

MIND-



There is a new show on A&E called Hoarders and one on TLC called Hoarding: Buried Alive. There has been a lot of media attention being drawn to this illness in recent times. This is not a new phenomenon, it's been going on for years and years. It seems that people want to see what many have been hiding and are too embarrassed to show in the past. These shows delve deep into the minds and actions of the individuals with this mental illness. It gives an inside look into their homes and the destruction it has caused, both within their living quarters and in their personal lives with family and friends.

Hoarding is a psychological condition that many classify under obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), however, many hoarders do not exhibit OCD related symptoms. Researchers are now trying to understand it as a distinct mental illness. Hoarding is the excessive collection of possessions and the failure to use or discard them, even if the items are worthless, unsanitary, or hazardous. People afflicted with this disorder live in homes filled with clutter and are unable to lead normal lives due to space restraints. They also may live in conditions that are hazardous to walk in, or be unable to maintain upkeep on the house, which can cause unsanitary living conditions.

There are different types of hoarding as well. Some people hoard particular things, like books, magazines, or newspapers. Some hoard food, animals, digital collections, or various other collectibles. Hoarders assign meaning to items or keep them as reminders of an experience they don't want to forget. This is why it is so difficult for them to let things go. They also believe, that one day, they (or someone they know) may need the saved items. There seems to be a genetic component to hoarding. Modeling and conditioning may also play a role. Hoarding can begin in childhood and it's estimated that 1.5-2 million Americans are afflicted with this disorder.

Most hoarders see nothing wrong with their actions and are resistant to change. This makes treatment difficult, as most therapy needs highly motivated patients in order for progress to occur. Combining psychotherapy, exposure therapy, and medication can help individuals to make beneficial changes in their lives. The family members are usually the ones that suffer through this condition.


Some symptoms of hoarding are:

• Cluttered living spaces
• Inability to discard items
• Keeping stacks of newspapers, magazines or junk mail
• Moving items from one pile to another, without discarding anything
• Acquiring unneeded or seemingly useless items, including trash
• Difficulty managing daily activities, including procrastination and trouble making decisions
• Difficulty organizing items
• Perfectionism
• Excessive attachment to possessions, and discomfort letting others touch or borrow possessions
• Limited or no social interactions  

Some interesting websites on this topic:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2517101/understanding_hoarding_the_pack_rat.html?cat=70
http://www.anxietyandstress.com/hoarding.html
http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-relative-hoarding-elderly-20100716,0,456585.story

Preventive Medicine 4:1

BODY-


“It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.”

-Benjamin Franklin








One day while assisting my employer (a Family Practice Physician) we had a patient come in with the complaint of shortness of breath. She couldn't breath while laying down. This was a woman in her 40's with teenage children. She admitted that she was a smoker and had this issue for awhile but was afraid to seek treatment. After ordering a chest x-ray, my doctor discovered she had inoperable lung cancer. She called a few days later in tears, a week later she had died. This was a preventable disease, but by the time she got to us, it was too late.

Preventive medicine are tests and screenings conducted to prevent, avoid, or predict future illness, disease or injury. Every person, both young and old, should be receiving preventive medical screenings. They not only protect the individual, but they also help protect the community. Due to ease of international travel, they also protect on a global level.

There are different types of preventive medicine. Some treat the individual and some apply epidemiological research towards finding ways to prevent diseases. There are different tiers used to address preventive medicine. For instance in substance abuse prevention:

• Universal Prevention- addresses the entire population (national, local community, school and district) and aims to prevent or delay alcohol abuse, tobacco and other drug usage. All individuals without screenings are provided with information and skills to help prevent problems with these substances.

• Selective Prevention- Focuses on groups who are at risk of developing problems. The groups may be selected by age, gender, family history, or economic status.

• Indicated Prevention- involves a screening process, and aims to identify individuals who exhibit early signs of substance abuse and other problem behaviors. Identifiers may include decline in grades, known conduct disorders from parents, school, etc.

• Environmental Prevention- Environmental prevention approaches are typically managed at the regulatory or community level, and focus on interventions to deter drug consumption. Prohibition and bans use various initiatives at the macro and micro level, from government monopolies for alcohol sales, through roadside sobriety or drug tests, worker/pupil/student drug testing, increased policing in suspected areas (near schools, at rock festivals), and legislative guidelines aimed at precipitating punishments (warnings, penalties, fines).

It's important to get regular check-ups from your primary care doctor. These health exams can help find problems before they start or find them early enough to be treated. Some common preventive medicine screenings are:

Breast exams

Pap smears

Colorectal cancer screenings (colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies)

Diabetic screenings

High blood pressure check

Immunizations

Oral health screenings

Prostate exams

Skin cancer screenings

Chest X-rays

Cholesterol tests

EKG's

Psychological exams

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Osteoporosis check (bone density scans)

To remain as healthy as possible one should get the recommended screening tests, don't smoke, drink alcohol only in moderation, be physically active, eat a healthy diet, stay at a healthy weight and take preventive medicine if necessary.

MALE CHECKLIST

FEMALE CHECKLIST

Here is a local website that initiates Health Screenings.

  http://www.7company.com/health-screenings.htm

Dreaming, More Than Just Sleep 3:3

SOUL-

Theories of dreaming have varied through time and across cultures. In ancient times, some believed dreams were messages from God or predictions of the future. Today dreams are used for psychological and scientific investigations. Dream activity can now be measured in sleep labs. We now know they are produced in the unconscious mind.


There are different stages of sleep. Stage 1 is light sleep, when you are drifting in and out of sleep. During this stage the eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows. During this phase many experience muscle twitching and the feeling of falling. In stage 2, eye movement stops and brain waves become slower. In stage 3 extremely slow brain waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves. In stage 4, the brain produces Delta waves almost exclusively. Stage 3 and 4 are considered deep sleep. There is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking and night terrors. After stage 4, we enter REM sleep. This is when we dream. Our breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly, and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed. Brain waves during this stage are comparable to a person who is awake. Also heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, males develop erections, and the body loses some of the ability to regulate temperature. If a person is awoken during REM sleep he can remember the dream. This alternating cycle goes on throughout the night, with the REM phase gradually increasing in length with each cycle. REM sleep diminishes as we age, and young babies spend most of their time in REM sleep.

Scientists believe that dreaming is linked with human growth and development. In laboratory testing, people deprived of REM sleep developed unpleasant symptoms such as depression, anxiety, nausea, irritability and general disorientation. Many believe that our dreams are also linked to spiritual growth. Some believe sleep is an intermediate stage between life and death. Others believe dreams are our way of unwinding the day's events, dealing with traumatic situations that have occured, or expressions of unconscious desires.

 I personally believe that there is some truth behind receiving messages from a spiritual world through your dreams. I have had episodes of talking with deceased relatives both after I received notifications of their deaths and before. There are many dream interpretations. Some psychologically based and others more spiritually based. I do believe that their are lessons to be learned through our dreams. These are your unconscious thoughts that have been buried, being brought out into the open. This is a great opportunity at gaining self-knowledge and listening to the messages within.

Here are some dream analysis websites:

 http://www.dreammoods.com/
http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/
http://www.dreamforth.com/
http://www.sleeps.com/
http://www.dreamota.com/

Schizophrenia 3:2

MIND-

I have dealt with Schizophrenia in my own family and it’s not easy to watch someone you love, a normal functioning family member, slowly deteriorate and require hospitalization. In my case, the individual recovered, however, they did not seem to be the same person they once were.


Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which the patient’s affect, behavior, and thoughts are profoundly altered. They have problems distinguishing the real from unreal, thinking logically, having normal emotional responses, and behaving normally in social situations.

It usually develops slowly and gradually over time. During the beginning phase, the individual may start to withdraw from people, have poor hygiene, and exhibit outburst of anger. There is a slow deterioration of function. The average age of onset is in the 20’s, although, in some people (especially women) onset does not occur until later in life. Approximately 1% of people worldwide will develop schizophrenia in their lifetimes. 25% of schizophrenics have only one psychotic episode and recover relatively completely. 25% improve enough to live independently. 25% improve, but not enough to live independently. 15% do not improve and are the chronic cases, and 10% commit suicide.

There are 2 different classifications of symptoms of Schizophrenia, positive and negative. Positive symptoms are an excess or distortion of normal functions. They are called positive because they are the presence of certain unusual behaviors. Positive symptoms are also more responsive to medications. Negative symptoms are a loss of normal functions.

Positive Symptoms
• Delusions
• Hallucinations
• Disordered Behavior
• Disorganized Speech

Negative Symptoms
• Flat Affect (without emotion)
• Alogia (brief, slow, empty replies to questions)
• Avolition (inability to initiate goal-directed behavior)

There are 5 subtypes of Schizophrenia.

1. Paranoid Schizophrenia-Aggressive behavior, (either toward themselves or others) anger, anxiety, argumentativeness and delusions of persecution or grandeur. This type also has the highest suicide rate.

2. Disorganized Schizophrenia-childish behavior, including giggling and a strange style of dress, may consist of public urination or defecation, obscene and babbling speech, delusions, flat affect, hallucinations, not understandable, repetitive behaviors, and social withdrawal. This type has the worst prognosis.

3. Catatonic Schizophrenia-bizarre movements, agitation, decreased sensitivity to pain, inability to take care of personal needs, negative feelings, motor disturbances, rigid muscles, and stupor. This type may require constant care.

4. Undifferentiated Schizophrenia-Symptoms do not clearly fall into any of the other subtypes or has symptoms from other subtypes.

5. Residual type-Symptoms of the illness have gone away, but some features may remain.

Although experts are not completely sure what causes Schizophrenia some factors include: genetics, brain abnormalities, maternal malnourishment during pregnancy, maternal illness, maternal stress, prenatal or birth-related complications, elevated levels of stress-related hormones, social stressors, drug use or a stressful life event may also be a trigger for schizophrenia.

Treatments for Schizophrenia might include antipsychotic or neuroleptic medications. Therapy for the individual and family may be beneficial as well.

Biking 3:1

BODY-

I just recently purchased a new bike, with the hopes of improving my cardiovascular health. I'm not much of a runner, and the weather's so nice, I thought getting something that would take me outside would be the way to go. I haven't ridden a bike since I was a child, but you know what they say...once you learn, you'll never forget. So I began the search for my bike.

 I began at Walmart not really sure where else to look. The service wasn't great. (I couldn't find anyone to help me in the bike department.) After waiting about 15 minutes an older woman came to assist me and clearly didn't know much about the bikes. I think it would be ok to buy a children's or youth bike here, but I needed more guidance. I then chose to go to Olde Towne Bicycles, which is a bicycle shop in Woodbridge, VA. It was a nice little shop, and the staff were very knowledgeable, however, I wasn't ready for the high-tech bikes they had displayed. The average price was around $300-$600. They recommended Dick's Sporting Goods, which is in between Wal-Mart and them. The sales associates were all helpful and knowledgeable. Fortunately they were also having a sale on bikes. I ended up purchasing a decently priced mountain bike. 

Now that I have my bike and have begun riding, I have discovered a a new biker's world out there I never knew existed. There are non-racing biking events that one can participate in, such as, Bike DC, and Bike New York. I hopefully will be participating in one of these events for 2011. There are also different websites that give breakdowns of the different biking trails and paths in the local area. There are also certain rules and signals one must follow when riding a bicycle. The Virginia Department of Transportation has a website outlining these regulations for the state of Virginia.  

Here are examples of the hand signals cyclists must adhere to. 

The Blessings of Music 2:3

SOUL-

Have you ever been driving in your car, listening to the radio, when all of a sudden, you hear a song that just moves you? It can transform your mood in seconds. I know personally I have been brought to tears, as a song reminds me of past experiences. On other occasions I have been uplifted and inspired to conquer fears, or attempt things I never thought I could. I've brainstormed and came up with my best ideas, amidst some good music, cruising down 95. There are songs that have made me want to jump up and move! Sometimes while driving, I notice I'm going over the speed limit and driving recklessly. I always thought how funny it'd be to explain to the policeman "the song made me do it."

Music can calm a child or put a smile on their face. It has even been shown to benefit in the womb and during infancy. Research shows babies who listened to classical music in the womb were calmer and more peaceful at birth, had better sleep cycles, and learned quicker as they grew. Classical music has also been shown to enhance cognitive function in children.

There are several benefits to listening to classical music. It has been shown to aid in increasing animal product (cows give more milk and hens produce more eggs.) It reduces crime, reduces stress and anxiety and soothes the human mind. It also helps in enhancing sales of stores. It relaxes the buyer and enhances the readiness to spend money. I know personally, I have had both negative and positive experiences in this department. I have entered places of business and been distracted and put-off by the music choice or the volume of it. On the other hand, whenever I go to Wegmans they are always playing an upbeat song, it puts me in a good mood and makes me want to come back. A task that is despised, becomes somewhat enjoyable.

I believe music is a means to touch and communicate through the soul. It unites people and evokes emotion. We as humans are naturally drawn to it. Here is a sample of music that I feel expresses some of these emotions.Turn it up!



This song takes me back to childhood. My Aunts used to always play it and it reminds of a time when things were so carefree and easy. Bonus: It always makes get up and dance!!

Depression 2:2

MIND-

I have chosen to discuss depression. There are a few different types of depression. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is the feeling of intense sadness, feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and hopelessness. It also keeps you from functioning normally in your daily life. To be diagnosed with MDD you need to have at least 5 of the 9 symptoms listed in the DSM-IV, during a period of at least 2 weeks.

• A depressed mood during most of the day, particularly in the morning.
• Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day.
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day.
• Impaired concentration, indecisiveness.
• Insomnia, or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day.
• Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities nearly every day.
•  Recurring thoughts of death or suicide (not just fearing death.)
• A sense of restlessness (known as psychomotor agitation) or being slowed down (retardation.)
• Significant weight loss or gain (change of more than 5% body weight in a given month) not through dieting.

Most of us have felt sad or down during different times in our life, due to loss, life's struggles, or an injured self-esteem. This is not considered Clinical or Major Depression. If these symptoms occur within 2 months of losing a loved one this is also not considered true depression.

Some common feelings one might experience in depression are:

• difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
• fatigue and decreased energy
• feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness
• feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism
• insomnia, early morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
• irritability, restlessness
• loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex
• no pleasure left in life anymore 
• overeating or appetite loss
• persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment
• persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings
• thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts

 There are also other mental illnesses in which depression can occur (Bi-Polar II Disorder, Manic Depression etc.) If you believe you could be suffering from depression, it's important to seek professional help. There are different types of treatment, such as antidepressant medication, psychotherapy or electric shock therapy. Different types of situations require different types of treatment. There are differences between men and women, young and old. Some women develop depression after childbirth, called post-partum depression. Men sometimes go through "male menopause" in which they can also experience depression.

It is estimated that up to one in five people in the United States will experience MDD in their lifetimes. The most common time of onset is between 20-30 years old, with a later peak at 30-40. If you would like to learn more about depression and it's treatment, you can also check out the website http://www.depression.com/. This site explains the different types of antidepressants and gives lots of useful information.